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Officials threaten trapped miners' kin

August 22, 2007

XINTAI, CHINA — Officials increased the pressure on the distraught families of 181 trapped miners Tuesday, deploying riot police, threats and money to silence their angry demands for answers to what caused the disaster.

The Huayuan mine was flooded Friday, trapping 172 workers underground, while nine others are missing in a nearby mine run by a different company.

The families are questioning why the Huayuan Mining Co. sent their loved ones into the 3,000-foot-deep shaft while the threat of flooding grew and other area mines shut down.

In a sign the government and Huayuan were bracing for more trouble Tuesday, police tape was strung up 20 yards outside the company's gate. Twenty riot police with shields and black helmets stood behind the cordon.